Jamaican Patwa {or Patois) is a so-called creole language. A "creole" is a language that has been influenced by others. In the case of Jamaican patois, the influences have come from French, Spanish, Arawak, Twi and many others.

Up until today, speaking creole has been widely regarded as "inferior", which is why Jamaican Patois has no convention for spelling and grammar. Thus you can spell it anyway you want it. For instance "brother" can be spelled "bradda", "breda" or "bretha", which only adds to the confusion. Modern dub poets like Linton Kwesi Johnson have taken it as far as spelling nearly every single word alternatively, even when the pronunciation is the same. E.g.: "one another" he spells "wananada".

There are many other varieties of patois, like Haitian patois, Santa Lucia patois, Louisiana patois etc.